Hatrack River Forum: HP7 British version vocab question (mayfly)

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Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :

This is a really random question, but if anyone has the British version of the book I'd appreciate it if you could find the answer for me.

In Ch 12 just after they find out Snape is the headmaster Hermione says "Merlin's pants." Is that what she says in the British version or has the word been changed?

Thanks!

Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :

I believe in the British version it says "Merlin's Brassiere."

Posted by Tristan (Member # 1670) on :

It says "Merlin's pants" in the British edition as well.

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

The expression can be interpreted the same, even though pants means different things on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

Interestingly, I submitted a bit of children's poetry for critique on a writer's workshop I belong to--

quote:
Stand up in a forest, as deep as the other.
There's no help for you now, not father nor mother!
The goblins that dwell here are both cunning and wild
And they'd just as soon eat one as look at a child.
If you can summon a wizard, you might have a chance.
Or the goblins might barter your life for. . . your pants.
Not a bad bargain, as such bargains go,
And thankfully, here they never see snow.

Critiquers on the Eastern side of the Atlantic expressed concern that there'd be a kid wandering around the rest of the picture book nude from the waist down; folks on this side of the Atlantic didn't hardly notice it at all.

(By the way, I liked Ron's one-uppmanship with "Merlin's baggiest Y-fronts.") [Big Grin]

Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :

Well that's good to know Scott.

Posted by Scott R (Member # 567) on :

Err...what's good to know?

Posted by kojabu (Member # 8042) on :

quote:
The expression can be interpreted the same, even though pants means different things on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

My reason for asking was based on someone's questioning of a picture of jeans along with the words "Merlin's pants!" As the British vocab is often changed in the American versions I wanted to check to see what it said there.

Posted by Fyfe (Member # 937) on :

Given that Ron refers to Y-fronts a little later, I'm guessing that wasn't changed from the British version, and that Hermione was using "pants" in the British sense of underwear.

Posted by anti_maven (Member # 9789) on :

Merlin's Pants - refering to the nether garments of said esteemed figure of magical legend*.

*Legend as in myth and folklore, not the end of your leg**.

** So as to eliminate ambiguity, diminish obfuscation and ameliorate comprehension.

Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :

Ron also uses "Merlin's saggy left -- "

Posted by andi330 (Member # 8572) on :

I've noticed that as the series has gone on, less and less has been "translated."

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :

Yeah, I even found "jumper" in the American version of one of the later books, a word that is traditionally changed in almost all books with an American vs. British edition.

Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :

There is also trainers to consider too.

Shame they can't call Sorcerer's stone Philosopher's Stone as th at sounds cooler.